Tag: Today's gift

Flashcards

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On Monday’s I mentor a student at a local elementary school through an organization called Kid’s Hope (https://kidshopeusa.org/).  Mentors with Kid’s Hope spend an hour a week throughout the school year with one student that may have academic, social or behavioral needs.  Among other things, my young student needs help with multiplication facts.  Each Monday, we work a bit on multiplication facts as part of our early afternoon mentoring project.

What better way is there to practice multiplication facts than flashcards?  You know, on one side of the card there is the problem, say 6 times 3.  On the flip side is the answer 6X3 = 18!  Success! You get the answer correct and there’s all kinds of wild celebration – high fives, fist bumps.  Then you go on to the next one.  By the end of the school year we both will know our multiplication facts from 0X0 to 12X12.  Woo!  Woo! 

My problem was, I didn’t have any flashcards.  I wanted to find some so we could start practicing those facts in earnest starting next Monday.   Ah, but where to find them? The teacher store in town closed years ago and there are no ‘flash card’ stores that I know of.  And, since I would like to have them right away, ordering online wouldn’t work.

I can remember days when I’d go with my dad to the lumber yard because we needed some lumber, of course.  We’d need a 2×4 or two or some kind of tool to complete a project.  Miller Lumber Company, Johnson Howard and South Side Lumber company were all places we might end up looking for … well, lumber or any kind of building supplies.  You would never expect to find groceries, for example, at the lumber yard.  Flashcards? That would be silly.

The other day, Friday, if you must know, I went to a ‘lumber yard’ looking for some lights to complete a project at home.  This store, with its 11% rebate on everything, promised me that I could ‘save big money!’  So that’s where I went.

These days a lumber yard does not just deal in lumber.  This place where I can ‘save big money’ sells all kinds of things, yes, even groceries.  One week in the freezer section there might be salmon steaks the next week frozen pizza. And of course, you can still buy a hammer or 2X6 piece of select pine.

As I wandered about the store I wasn’t thinking about groceries, hammers or pine boards.  I was focused on the lights I need.  I knew where they were.  I could be in and out of the store in just a few minutes.

And, then, on the bottom shelf of an aisle full of toys  (yes, there are toys for sale at this ‘lumber yard’) I spied… yes, you knew this was coming… flashcards!

There they were!  Just the tool I needed to help a kid learn his math facts!  Excited, I picked them up and added them to my purchases.  Excited not only that I ‘saved big money’ with an 11% rebate, but that I now have what I need for Monday’s mentoring session.

Hmmm… so what?  Is this really a big deal?  There’s really nothing profound here.  Except, the ordinary events of a recent Friday is just another example of how the God that loves us takes care of us in all kinds of ways, little and big, every day.   And that, more than ‘saving big money’, with an 11% rebate and even finding flashcards is today’s gift.

This Morning’s Walk

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I was up early this morning.  I wasn’t sleeping and the much hyped lunar eclipse making its way across the sky called my name.  So, I got up.  Dressed for the 35 degree morning, I grabbed my camera and stepped outside.  Through the bare trees and thickening clouds I saw the last bit of reflected sunlight succumb to the earth’s shadow creeping across the moon’s face, totally eclipsing it.

And that was it.  By the time I was out for my walk, the clouds pretty much covered the sky and ended any hope of viewing the moon continuing its cycle.  Disappointing, to be sure.

However, another sight was in the making in the east.  Remember those clouds that covered the lunar eclipse?  They teamed up with the rising sun this morning to make for a most delightful sunrise.

Today’s sunrise and lunar eclipse were among the blessings of today’s early walk this crisp November morning.  Morning walks… the days’ gifts.

“Morning by morning new mercies I see…”

Dahlia (2)

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The grand dahlia experiment is about over.  Last spring I planted three tubers.  In September I had one flower bloom.  And today, in late October, just after an evening and early morning of below freezing temps, I can report and show Dahlia #2.

It’s a beauty and worth the wait.

With the coming of frost, is the grand dahlia experiment now over?  Not quite.  There are tubers to harvest, divide, store and to be replanted in the spring.  Each step is something new for me and an opportunity to learn about and enjoy a small part of the Creator’s world.

Today’s gift.

Why Do Hummingbirds Hum?

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The afternoon settled in …

Cool, gray, empty

Looking for meaningful activity, pondering important things … 

I settled in

A book at hand and camera at the ready…

Looking …

For the elusive hummingbird 

And then

So, the question remains…

Hummingbirds hum because … why?

They’re happy… ?

And it’s hard to smile with that pointy beak

Echolocation…? 

That’s a batty idea

Looking for a mate?

Hmmmm…

So why DO hummingbirds hum?

Anyone can tell you…

It’s because they don’t know the words!

Or maybe they do

“This is my Father’s world… 

the birds their carols raise… 

declaring their Maker’s praise.”

Today’s gift.

My Dahlia

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I planted

Just at the right time 

Late spring 

A tuber

I waited

It sprouted

Right through the soil

Right on schedule 

Green leaves

I waited

It grew

Taller, branching out

Just as predicted

More green

I waited

It thrived

Basking in the sunshine 

Blooming time approaching 

No buds

I waited

It continued 

Growing in good soil, drinking pure water

Doing what dahlias are created to do with

No flower

No bud

No hope?

Yet, I waited

Then

It budded 

Round, smooth swelling

In anticipation of

A flower 

I waited

I waited

I waited some more

Then

Behind schedule… My schedule?

It bloomed

A single yellow pinwheel of petals

Right on time, the Creator’s time

A gift

Today’s gift. Worth the wait.

Children of the Heavenly Father

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I went to church yesterday. That’s not so unusual. Most Sundays you’ll find me in some church somewhere. This particular Sunday I was struck by an old hymn we sang, “Children of the Heavenly Father.”  Even though the song is rife with archaic, medieval sounding language, the song and the events of the day grabbed my attention.

Children of the heav’nly Father safely in his bosom gather…

There we were, safely gathered all in the same place, Baby Eli and his mom and dad, George, Hope, me and the rest of the congregation.

God his own doth tend and nourish; in his holy courts they flourish…

Of course, the point of attending church on Sunday is to worship God. That is not to say that God can’t be worshipped any other day. I believe that all of life can be an act of worship. But yesterday, through the sacraments of baptism and holy communion we were ‘tended and nourished’ and reminded of why we worship God.

…in his mighty arms he bears them…

Baby Eli was baptized. Baptism symbolizes the washing away of sins by the sacrifice Jesus made for us. It is a sign and seal of God’s covenant of grace. After the baptism and while the congregation sang, Eli, carried in the strong arms of his dad, met his church family. The simple act of a dad carrying his son provided a poignant picture of the God about whom we were singing.

From all evil things he spares them…

George. About 10 years ago I had an unpleasant encounter with George. Even though I no longer remember the details of the disagreement, I remember the strong feelings expressed and the inability to amicably resolve the problem.

George showed up in my church yesterday. He was there for the baptism. I’d like to say that we talked, reconciled and left as friends. It didn’t happen that way. Maybe it will someday, but yesterday our paths didn’t cross. However, I left with the realization that 10 years ago God helped me through that very difficult time.

I’m sure that George and I have probably changed a bit over the 10 years, hopefully for the better. I know he is not evil, then or now. And, like me, Eli and the rest he also is a child of the Heavenly Father.

Though he giveth or he taketh, God his children ne’er forsaketh;

The service concluded. It was time to head home. I headed toward the exit and there walked Hope. Actually, there limped Hope with her strong right leg clamped in a brace.

She is a former student of mine from six years ago. A gifted runner on the cross country team that I coached. A sweet kid. It seems that a freak twist of the knee damaged something. Now in her senior year she is missing the beginning chunk of her cross country season. Disappointing I’m sure.

We talked. She seemed upbeat, hopeful that the MRI results will deliver good news. For now the ability to run has been taken from her. I pray that she knows that the One who loves her the most and the best has not forsaken her.

Children of the heav’nly Father… his the loving purpose solely to preserve them pure and holy.

Today’s gift is the reminder that baby Eli and his parents, George, Hope, me and you are indeed children of the Heavenly Father. This is the Good News…

Morning Walks…

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My usual walking routine is to wake up, get ready and go. I walk alone.

This past week my routine changed in that I got up, got ready and went, still alone, but walked in three different states.

Different states, means…

different paths…

different people and things along the way…. 

Different states, paths, people, things… always alone.

Wait! Not alone! No matter the state, type of path, people or things, I’m never alone. Over the course of a multitude of morning meanderings, I have come to realize that every day, I have Jesus walking with me.

Today’s gift.

“… and walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8

Just What I Needed

On By dklinegIn Other Stuff..., School Things1 Comment

I turned the corner to leave the cereal aisle and there she stood.  A teaching colleague from years past; a friend that I hadn’t talked to in years pushed her cart with the week’s groceries.

You know how it goes, after the initial surprise, we caught up on stuff. You know, things like family. “How are the kids doing? Really they’re that old!?” Topics that only scratched the surface to be sure, but useful for folks who’ve been apart for a time. It kept the conversation going a bit.

As we chatted a little more we dodged the folks trying to make their way to the Special K.  We rearranged our carts so shoppers could get by then the conversation changed. The topic turned to God.  Yep, it happened right there in the grocery store, next to the Frosted Mini Wheats. Right there among shoppers filling their carts with tomorrow’s breakfast, in stepped God.

Several years ago, she and her husband left secure teaching jobs in a stable Christian school to start up a Christian school in the same town, in the heart of a neighborhood rife with poverty, instability and crime. A gutsy move, I thought at the time. They said, a calling from God.

God calls, indeed. He’s a God that not only calls, but over the years he’s demonstrated that he equips and blesses. Over the years God has made that little school a blessing to the neighborhood. He brought the right people together, gave them the courage to take a leap of faith and through them multiplied his blessing and grace to an impoverished neighborhood. God was and is at work through the Tree of Life School in the Edison neighborhood of Kalamazoo, Michigan. It’s an incredible story, to be sure.

That’s about where our conversation ended. For me it was an important reminder that God graciously walks daily with me too, as I try to fulfill his calling. It was a reminder of God’s goodness and faithfulness right there in the cereal aisle. Today, a little chat about God with a friend, just down the way from the Corn Flakes, was just what I needed.

Today’s gift.

Around the Corner

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The trail I walk on just about every morning is a mostly flat meandering path following a creek.  There are woods, fields and marshes that change with the seasons.  Today’s flowers are different from a month ago. Yet day by day things pretty much remain the same.

Sometimes unexpected things come along that surprise and delight.  Like this morning.  I was walking along, turning a corner that bends the path into a swampy area, when I met this curious traveler. 

We stood facing each other for a few minutes, long enough for me to get out my phone and snap a few pictures.  Delightful.

Today, I turned a corner that I’ve walked hundreds of times seeing the same scene almost every time, until today. A surprise.  A gift.  And then more.

So it is with life.  We travel in our day-to-day routines.  We work. We play. We struggle. We enjoy.  We fret.

We worry about what’s next, what’s around the next corner.  It’s impossible to tell.  Yet the One who created fawns and flowers walks with us as we travel our straight and crooked paths.  He tells us there’s no need to worry. 

So today, praise God who has all our corners, beginning to end, in view. Praise the one who reminds us “Do not be afraid… you are mine.”  Isaiah 43:1  Today’s gift.

“This is my Father’s world… O let me not forget…”